Bosnia postpones local elections due to lack of funding

Updated
9:17 am EDT, Saturday, May 23, 2020

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Election officials in Bosnia said Saturday that they will postpone local elections scheduled for early October due to the government’s failure to secure funding for their organization.

Bosnia’s election commission, or CIK, announced that nationwide elections to choose mayors and municipal councilors will be held Nov. 15, provided the commission receives the funding necessary to carry out the voting.

The Bosnian government has yet to pass the 2020 budget and is operating instead on quarterly interim funding arrangements.

The country’s presidency is supposed to approve the budget in June. Some leading politicians, however, hinted last week that they may condition its subsequent adoption by parliament to the resolution of disputes over the CIK’s composition.